Finance Monthly - January 2022

CONTACTLESS SERVICES The challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic have caused a major shift in consumer behaviour. Suddenly needing to adhere to social distancing guidelines and other rules, companies shifted their operations with rapid speed. According to The Visa Back To Business Report, nearly 33% of businesses now only accept contactless payments, while 48% of customers said they would not shop at a store that only offers payment methods that involve contact with a cashier or a shared machine such as a card reader. This shift toward contactless services is set to stick around in 2022 and the years beyond as the pandemic continues and customers become increasingly accustomed to simpler and faster ways of paying. As such, businesses that want to keep up will have to make the shift in line with the rest. DIGITAL SOCIETY Society is becoming increasingly digital, with almost 15 billion mobile devices operating worldwide in 2021. While a decade ago cash made up 60% of payments, 2017 saw debit cards overtake cash for the first time. COVID-19 has undoubtedly pushed an increasing number of people toward digital payments options, but even before the pandemic, cash was set to make up just 10% of payments by 2028. Digital wallets are also playing a major role in the increasing popularity of digital payments. According to an annual Worldpay Global Payments Report, digital wallets are set to represent half of global e-commerce sales by 2023, meaning we will likely see their popularity grow in 2022. 1 2 Bank i ng & F i nanc i a l Se r v i ce s 14 Finance Monthly.